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Run for the joy of running

Run for the joy of running

It’s really funny on how running can take over many things that you do:) it has quite a monopolistic attitude, once it sets its feet strong on the ground and the rhythm is established, there is really no looking back, you just want to give in to that attitude and just run and all the time! And before you realise it, you are there, right in the deep thick foliage of running that it is is difficult to look beyond, or rather you don’t want to look beyond or outside! You are there in the thick, enjoying all that running brings with it and cannot but marvel at the different shades of light and colour it can bring to your life!

I have been one of those jungle inhabitants who cannot but look at what running has made me and want to have more and more people fall into this depth!

There is not one boring day in the jungle, but every day and every run opens up new vistas of experience and learning.

I rediscovered the joy of running as I ran for the first time with my 11 year old son at Auroville in 2016! It was the most satisfying experience and we loved and lived up to the tag line of the race – run for the joy of running! It is amazing how running can bring that bond between people and actually change you!

I run truly as I enjoy it! I walk away after every run with an experience that has enriched me, made me see challenges in a whole new perspective, and made me fight odds and difficulties, be optimistic always and achieve a sense of satisfaction and contentment.

Taking a few lines from what I wrote sometime ago – for each of us there is and will be a success story. Well, it does depend on the definition of success. If we could define success as contentment, then for me as a runner I am very proud to have attained this degree of contentment. And that’s what it is at the end of the day and after a couple of years of running – a sense of satisfaction that is always the result of tremendous amount of dedication, hard work and some awesome focus!

Of course running teaches you the best lessons of life, and it made me say this – I will learn along the way, I will run faster along the way, I will face more challenges along the way, I may have numerous easy runs too along the way, but I will always run for its experience and not for anything else. If I am chasing a goal and if I don’t reach that, I will be disappointed! I don’t want to feel disappointed after a run, I want to feel good and enjoy the all so important time with buddies, smiling faces, congratulations from family and children and be a part of all achievements, small or big!

I realize through running that achievement is such an individual term and no one can define it as much as we ourselves can. And I am proud to say that every run is an achievement for me! And I love every piece of it and every moment of it!

Like a saying from Jacqueline Gareau goes ‘the body does not want you to do it. As you run it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy…It is not age, it is not diet, it is the will to Succeed.

Running has taught me that it is a lifestyle and not a fad. It has connected me to people, it has made me do things for others as much as for myself, it has given me immense joy, it has helped me handle disappointments, it has made me value what I have, it has built relationships for me, it has given me the will to succeed, it has taught me never to stop or give up and it has given me happiness to see others happy and recognise that it is a way of life!

I look forward to more running, more experiences, knowing well that each one will be unique, cherish each run, for myself, for people and with some awesome people!